Find more on Lewandowski
The aforementioned good streak had been based, in large part, on the goals of Robert Lewandowski. In the League, the Polish striker chained six consecutive days scoring (9 goals) and signed a hat trick in the premiere against Viktoria Plzen. His good numbers can also be explained by the fact that the choral game was booming. Unlike Leo Messi, capable of solving games on his own in isolated plays, Lewandowski needs more help from his teammates.
In the two most outstanding matches of the Champions League, against Bayern and Inter, the difference in their incidence is shown, both in attacking production and in association. Against his former team, he was the player who finished the most, with seven attempts, followed by Leon Gortezka and Raphinha, both with three, while against Inter he only finished on a single occasion (the Blaugrana with more finishes it was Dembélé, with two). As for the contact with the ball, the Pole made contact with it on 47 occasions against the Germans, for 30 against the Italians. He served 26 passes (two of them were accurate passes in space) against Bayern and only 17 in the duel against Inter, none in space.
In La Liga, if compared to the last game before the stoppage, the victory against Elche, Lewandowski shot on six occasions – two of them ended in a goal – and came into contact with the ball 38 times in the 72 minutes he played. On the other hand, against Celta, the ram played the full 90 minutes, scored twice (one on goal) and only came into contact with the ball 27 times. “We have to find more and better Robert”, lamented Xavi after a duel in which the 9 also played with the handbrake, dosing himself thinking about Inter. Overall, in the League he is still the player who shoots the most in total: 20 shots in 8 games, nine more than Benzema and Vínicus and eight more than Joselu, of Espanyol, second in this ranking.
Casualties in defense
One of the things that the coaching staff regrets the most is the avalanche of casualties in the stoppage of selections, many focused on the axis of the defense. Kounde was a signing explicitly requested by Xavi and the former Sevilla player, despite preferring to play as a central player, was the one who was giving the most benefits as a right-back, the weakest link in the squad after the failed signing of Azpilicueta and the arrival , at the last minute, by Héctor Bellerín, also injured. It is sterile to focus everything on the losses, but the decline of the team has coincided with the absences of Araujo and Kounde.
The latest injury to a centre-back, Christesen, has catapulted Piqué from ostracism to ownership. Against Inter, the pair of central players will surely go through Eric Garcia and Piqué, although Xavi could bet on De Jong, as Ronald Koeman already did, or repeat with Marcos Alonso. For the classic, from the dressing room they value taking risks with Kounde if the player’s evolution continues to be positive. Absences at right back have also involved making Balde play on a different side (and leg). The youth player has continued to play at a good level, but his projection in attack has been limited: the most obvious fact is that he has gone from providing two assists against Elche to not making a single cross against Mallorca or the Celtic
Recover Ferran and Raphinha for the cause
Who else still believes in Ferran Torres is Xavi himself. One of the factors that argue from the dressing room for the disconnection in the last match against the Galician team is that the team, mentally, was focused on final against Inter. But, in the case of the Foios attacker, the lack of confidence has long been reflected in his game. Against Celta, in his third start of the season, he tried, and with three shots in the 63 minutes he played, he was the Barça player who tried it the most. His shots, however, did not create much danger.
For his part, Raphinha has gone from more to less. He has participated in all but one of the matches – against Viktoria Plzen – but has only completed the 90 minutes against Sevilla. He scored a goal and provided an assist (like Ferran). Both are workers and they apply themselves in the choral pressure – essential in Xavi’s Barça, as was demonstrated in the first 30 minutes against Celta, the only ones in which they were superior to the Galicians -, but they must add more in attack Dembélé must also recover his good game.
